Lorin Stein Named Editor of the Paris Review

Garth recently posited that Dave Eggers would be a great, if counter-intuitive, replacement for Philip Gourevitch at the Paris Review. Instead, the Paris Review has announced today the equally admirable appointment of FSG editor Lorin Stein to head up the venerable literary magazine. The announcement.

In his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama explained his weariness of campaign advertisements when he said, “If you’re sick of hearing me ‘approve this message,’ believe me, so am I.” These days, those ads are everywhere; it’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed. So as a refresher, consider a journey through elections past via The Living Room Candidate, an online archive of presidential campaign commercials from 1952-2008.

Does being a writer make you a bad father? Matthew Normanponders his fear at Salon. "As a fiction writer, I’m perpetually in some state of preoccupation. At any given moment, I’m suffering over people who don’t exist—who will never exist." Maybe he should try Polly Rosenwaike'stactic and read fiction about the opposite parent.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux will team up with GQ for something called "The Originals Series." The series, as stated in a blog post from FSG's digital marketing manager, will consist of "authors and musicians in conversation, hosted by David Rees (Get Your War On, Artisanal Pencil Sharpening, Kale City), in an intimate West Village loft space. We’ll film each event and edit it down to a compelling short film for broadcast online." You can RSVP to the November 8th kick-off, which features John Jeremiah Sullivan and the Brooklyn-based band Caveman, here.

The summer issue of Prairie Schooner has a short story of mine in it, as well as other good stuff, for most of which a subscription is required. You don't need one, however, to read this short interview (very much in keeping with the Where We Write theme).